Living with Emma
by Anne-Lilian
Summary: Sequel to 'Along came Emma', so read that first! Harry is now living with his aunt, and life is looking up, but how will he survive the Triwizard tournament? R&R! (warning: OC story) Rating might change!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: You guys didn't think I'd leave you without more Emma, did you? So here's the new chapter, this is a few weeks before the actual beginning of the book, but I'll make big jumps later on. I'm working on chapter three, and I hope I'll be able to update tomorrw (since we don't have school!)  
Enjoy!**

**Sara: Thank you for your review! I try to reply to everyone who reviews, so since you didn't have an account... I hope you'll like this!  
**

**And a big thanks to Xxrunnin-wit-pandasxX fo suggesting the title!  
**

Chapter 1

It was the night before Harry's birthday, and I was trying to get everything ready. It would be my nephew's first real birthday party, so I decided it had to be spectacular, but not too big. Hermione, having visited the French version of Diagon Alley, would floo in tomorrow morning, while her parents visited the Louvre.

Harry had been at the Weasley's so he wouldn't be in my way, and so he could personally invite all of them for the party. I had also invited Remus, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Neville Longbottom and his grandmother, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan, but of those only Neville, his grandmother, Hagrid and Dumbledore had been able to come. Harry had complained, and told me that he could invite his own friends, but I could tell he was secretly a little pleased.

I mentioned to Molly that Ginny was welcome to bring a friend, as she would otherwise be the only girl her age.

I checked off 'guest list' from my 'to do' list, skipping decorations, and went on to the next item: presents. I already had the _Lord of the Rings_ book I'd bought in June, and of course there were piles of sweets, but my last present had taken quite a while to procure. I had also made sure to have some small presents ready for Neville, since it was his birthday today.

The decorations were mostly in place, and every guest had received a letter from me with the address. Not the Weasleys, of course; Ron and Harry had been going back and forth between the two houses almost every day, and once the other Weasleys had heard that I had a professional grade, covered Quidditch Pitch in my back yard, there had been no keeping them away from here.

I had taken up Arthur's offer to come over for tea soon after school had ended for the children. Molly was a wonderful woman, and it was no wonder Harry had found a second mother in her. Our first meeting had been a little strained, probably because of her obvious protective feelings toward Harry, but she soon warmed up to me. She was coming over after breakfast to help out with lunch. I was a bit ashamed that I sometimes relied on Harry to make sure we didn't eat take-out all the time, though I did take him out as often as he wanted – only in muggle restaurants, of course. Preparing an omelette and toasting bread were about the limits of my cooking skills.

I sighed and put the list down on my night stand. Everything was ready for the party, and it was past twelve; I needed sleep.

/*/

The next morning came far too early, but I made sure to be up before the birthday boy and set up breakfast. Harry didn't allow me much time, however, since he was an early riser.

He came into the kitchen just as I put a pitcher of orange juice on the table. "Happy birthday," I said with a smile, and handed him a plate of eggs, bacon and sausages. "How does it feel to be fourteen?"

He grinned at me and filled his glass. "Not that different from being thirteen," he replied.

As he started shovelling food in his mouth, I put a present in front of him. "You get to open this one now, but all the rest have to wait for lunch."

His smiled broadly and ripped it open, not caring about the painstaking work the saleslady had put into wrapping it. "It's a book," he said, frowning at it.

I rolled my eyes and started eating breakfast myself. "Just because it's not about Quidditch doesn't mean you won't like it. It's the first in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I first read it when I was in America, it's a really good book," I said. I watched from the corner of my eyes as he read the back of the book. He seemed interested, but right then the fireplace chimed. I had an alarm installed after the Weasley twins nearly scared me to death by sneaking in.

Harry looked up, and abandoned his breakfast to see who it was. He walked back in with Hermione, the latter chatting at a thousand miles per hour. "And I saw the Eiffel tower, that was great, but we had to stand in line for hours! We also visited the national library, you wouldn't believe how many books there were! Oh – Hallo, Mrs. Potter," she said politely when she saw me.

I held up a hand. "Please, I'm Emma, calling me Mrs. just makes me feel old. Why don't you show her around, Harry, I'm sure she'll love my father's library."

The girl's eyes brightened at the prospect of more book, and she eagerly followed Harry out. I finished my coffee – black, I'd definitely need it today – and went to check on my special present for Harry, taking a basket of food with me. I was just lucky Harry hadn't gone looking for secret passages in the mansion yet, because there were quite a few. The one I was headed to lead to a secret safe-room that my grandfather had installed during the Grindewalt War.

I opened the door with the password and entered, bracing myself for the inevitable impact.

A huge black dog bound over to me, jumping up and sniffing the basket enthusiastically.

I laughed. "Get down, you mutt!" I shouted as he started licking my hands. "I'm serious, stop it!"

The dag suddenly backed off and changed forms. A man now stood before me, sporting long hair, and the gaunt look of someone who hadn't been fed properly, but a smile was present on his face. "You're Sirius? I think you're confusing yourself with me, Emmers," he joked, stealing the basket from my hands and ducking my swat.

"You're incorrigible, Padfoot! Now eat up. I'm cutting your hair today, you still look horrible!"

"Oi! I take offense at that!"

"Great, that was exactly what I meant to do," I said, but a smile tugged at my lips. Holding in laughter at his pout was far harder than it should have been.

"I only got here yesterday and you're already insulting me!" he whined, but dug into his food with vigour.

"You deserve it," I joked, and sat down on a chair to watch him eat.

It had taken weeks to convince Sirius that living with us wouldn't put Harry or me in any more danger, it's not like anyone we didn't trust could actually enter the house. I'd put him in the safe-room for now so Harry wouldn't discover him, and planned to move him to the guest room closest to Harry's room – Sirius' old room. The room didn't look inhospitable: my grandmother had prided herself on her accomplishment to make the windowless room look cosy. It held two bunk beds, a table with four chairs, at which Sirius and I were now sitting, a kitchenette and two doors leading to a small bathroom and a pantry, which was empty at the moment.

When Sirius finally finished licked all the last crumbs from the pates, I got to work on him. I washed his hair with a charm – not as good as the real thing, but it would have to do for now – cut it, and made him use a shaving charm on his stubble. I gave him fresh robes in a standard black and waited for him to get changed in the bathroom. When he came out, he looked far more like the man I remembered. "That's better. Now, can you keep yourself amused until one-thirty? I'll come and get you."

He nodded, his face serious again – no pun intended. "Are you sure about this Emma? If they find me here…"

"If you they find you here that means the Death Eaters can get in just as easily, and we're dead anyway. Harry wants you here, and so do I. If it were up to me, Moony would be staying here too, but he's too stubborn and proud to give in. But at least he's not on the run, and he can drop in anytime he wants to. Now stop your whining, you've already given in, and there's no way I will let you go back on your word, got it?"

A grin tugged at the corner of his lips, but he nodded anyway.

"Good. I'm going upstairs and prepare for the party. I think there's some games and such in the cabinet. See you in a few!" I said and went out the door, sealing it behind me.

That room was so secure because only someone with the Potter blood could open it, or make it open for someone else. The Potter had to do it out of free will and couldn't be coerced into opening it. I thought it was ridiculous to have a safe-room in one of the most secure houses in Britain, but I already knew my grandfather had been paranoid. He was the one who keyed in so many wards around the house and properties.

I suddenly became aware of someone shouting my name. "Emma!" It was Harry. I raced down the corridor and went through the secret passageway that opened into the living room. "Harry?" I shouted back and ran towards the noise. It sounded like it came from the kitchen, so I hurried there. He met me at the door, nearly running into me. "What's wrong?" I asked, looking him over for injuries.

He frowned at me. "We couldn't find you, and you didn't answer our calls. We looked everywhere!" he exclaimed. I now noticed Hermione standing behind him, a slight worried frown marring her face.

"I was preparing your present, I had a silencing charm on the door," I replied. Not entirely a lie: I _had_ been preparing his present, and there _had_ been a strong, permanent silencing charm on the door, just not the door of my bedroom.

Harry's frown deepened. "We looked in your room."

I smiled. "Harry, this house has almost as many secret rooms and passages as Hogwarts does! We had some paranoid relatives. Why were you looking for me?" I asked curiously.

"Mrs. Weasley's here, she's waiting in the kitchen."

"Thank you. I'm sorry I gave you a scare, but I can't have you figuring out what your present is before the party, now can I?" I said, and slid by them, into the kitchen.

Molly was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of tea Harry had no doubt offered her when he couldn't find me.

"Good morning, Molly, how are you?" I asked pleasantly, as I put on an apron.

She smiled. "Very good, thank you. And thank you for letting me help."

"Are you kidding? I desperately need your help if I'm going to feed over a dozen people. I don't want to serve them toast!"

"Well then, let's get to work!"

I showed her where everything was, and she told me what to do; a perfect partnership.

**A/N: Tell me what you think! And suggestions are always welcome!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ok, so right now it might not be too interesting yet, but the fun part will start soon! I also put in a surprise!**

Chapter 2

We worked for most of the morning. Ron showed up a few hours before the party was supposed to begin, and the trio kept to themselves upstairs, as I had told them to.

Soon enough, the clock chimed 12:30, and guests began to trickle in. Dumbledore and Hagrid were the first to arrive, and dutifully put their presents on the designated table in the living room. Harry talked amiably to Hagrid, while Dumbledore came over to greet Molly and myself. I stayed long enough to exchange the usual niceties, before quickly dashing upstairs and changing: I had still been wearing my sweatpants and an old t-shirt under the apron. When I came back downstairs, I was at least wearing some regular jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.

The other Weasleys had arrived in the meantime, and everyone was getting along marvellously, sitting in groups and chatting pleasantly. _'The greatest thing about this room,'_ I thought as I surveyed the scene, _'is that it grows larger or smaller depending on the number of people inside.'_ And it did so without anyone noticing: the wall might've backed up an inch or two, and an extra pair of armchairs appeared, but no one paid attention to it.

The floo chimed again, and this time Neville came tumbling out of it, closely followed by Augusta Longbottom. I had only met her in passing during the last war, and had only known her as 'Frank's mum', but I couldn't very well invite Arthur, Molly and Dumbledore, but not Neville's gran? The boy quickly sought out the youngest group, which also included Ginny Weasley, as her friend, Luna Lovegood hadn't arrived yet.

I wandered from group to group, spending a little time with everyone, as I had so often seen my mother do when I was younger. She was far more graceful, of course, but I thought I did a decent job.

I found that the people I knew the least – Percy Weasley, Mrs. Longbottom and Luna Lovegood – I liked the latter the best. Percy was a little pompous, but he clearly felt very responsible for his younger siblings, and tried very hard to fit in with his older ones. He wasn't a bad sort, but not someone I could talk to for a long period of time. Mrs. Longbottom was much the same, and I had to wonder if the two families were related somehow; purebloods often were. Luna on the other hand, was my favourite person of the day, aside from Harry. She had a wide-eyes stare, and talked about things that I wasn't quite sure were real, and other that I knew for a fact weren't, but she was just so _funny_. She could make an entire room speechless, and not feel uncomfortable, or that was my impression, at least. When she noticed me trying to hide my laughter, she smiled at me from across the room. I wasn't sure if this meant that she was doing it on purpose or not.

Neville seemed the least perturbed by the younger girl, and talked to her more than to his classmates, which meant that Ginny and Hermione – and occasionally Harry and Ron – spent a lot of time together. When a conversation about Quidditch started, however, Hermione joined Luna and Neville, while Ginny and Harry were discussing the finer points of seeking. Ron listened avidly, especially to what Harry said, and threw in his own opinion from time to time.

I was just standing in the circle of adults – Albus, Hagrid, Molly, Arthur and Augusta – when the floo chimed again. I had thought everyone was here, but smiled broadly when Moony stepped out from the fireplace.

"Remus! I thought you couldn't come?" I asked, hugging him.

He smiled back at me. "I couldn't very well stay away, could I?" He also put a gift on Harry's already enormous pile of presents, and joined our little group of adults.

"Well, if everyone's here, I guess Harry can open his presents now," I announced to the room.

Everyone found a seat in the room, Ginny sitting on the ground and leaning against her oldest brother's legs.

Harry blushed a little at being the centre of attention, but as soon as he turned to his pile, the embarrassment disappeared in the excitement of unwrapping his gifts.

I returned to the kitchen to put the finishing touches on the food, but hurried back, as my curiosity was just as bad as Harry's.

I walked in just as Harry handed a present to a dumbstruck Neville. "I found it in James' things, I think he borrowed it from Frank and forgot to give it back," I explained.

The boy opened the box and pulled out a miniature guitar. I pulled out my wand and took off the shrinking charm I'd used on it.

"My father played?" he asked in a whisper, completely unaware of his surroundings by now.

I didn't think he needed an answer, and gestured to Harry to continue unwrapping. He received two golden chains with pendants on them from Albus. He explained that they would turn cold if the wearer of the other was in danger of any sort. Harry looked at them for a second before throwing the other one at me. I only caught them because of my seeker reflexes. Harry had put his on, and went on with his presents, as if what he'd done wasn't anything special, but I was fighting to hold back tears. Remus, who was standing next to me, squeezed my shoulder and grinned at me. I immediately knew he was going to tease me about this at some point.

Harry got a book on Quidditch from Hermione, some more sweet from most of the Weasley children, a cool-looking magical puzzle from the two oldest Wealsey children, something no one could identify from Luna, to which she only said, "you're welcome", a plant that would sing songs if you poked it from Neville (the twins soon tried to teach it the dirty versions, which the plant eagerly belched out later that day), a book on hippogriffs from Hagrid – with a wink – and then the table was empty. Harry was about to get up, but I halted him.

"Wait, you haven't gotten mine yet, everyone wait here!" I said, and with childish glee walked through what must've looked like a solid wall to the rest of the company. I smiled as I heard their exclamations behind me.

I returned a minute later, leaving Padfoot in the hidden corridor, and bid Harry to close his eyes. He sighed dramatically, as if annoyed, but the smile kind of ruined it. He closed his eyes.

I lead Padfoot out, and Hermione and Ron gasped, Dumbledore smiled, and the rest of the group simply seemed impressed at the 'gift'. Remus was trying very hard not to choke while he held in his laughter. Padfoot silently walked over to Harry and licked his face, causing the boy to open his eyes in surprise. I could tell what he was about to say and was poked him just in time. He hugged the dog in stead.

"He's yours, so you'll be taking care of him during the summer and holiday breaks, understood. I'll make sure he doesn't get into any mischief while you're at Hogwarts," I said, fighting my own smile.

He looked up at me, and I was surprised to see he was close to tears. "Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome… Now, who wants food?" I said, and lead everyone into the dining room.

The adults occupied one table, while the children took charge of the other. Padfoot positioned himself underneath the table, and was soon fed scraps by Ginny and Harry, who happened to be sitting next to each other.

Bill and Charlie left early, though, as they had to get back to Egypt and Romania respectively in a few hours. Arthur and Percy excused themselves soon after lunch, claiming work. All of them left under loud, but kindly meant boos.

/*/

Molly, along with some of the others, had offered to help with the cleanup, but I waved them off. "If there's anything I can do, it's use my wand to clean up, did have James for an older brother, after all."

Harry showed Padfoot to his room, which I had left the same from when he actually lived here, while I made the dishes wash themselves and gathered all the wrappings with a wave of my wand. It had been a very successful birthday party, and I thought all the guests had had fun. Maybe Percy was the exception there, as I had noticed he'd kept to himself, mostly, but then again, I didn't know the young man that well, and he might just be like that naturally.

Harry and Sirius, now back in his human form, came downstairs, talking loudly and laughing.

"Did you enjoy your birthday party, Harry?" I asked, getting the leftovers out of the fridge.

He smiled at me and sat down at the kitchen table. "Yeah, it was great, thank you!" he said, and dug into his food enthusiastically. Sirius made eye contact with me briefly, and smiled. 'Thank you' he seemed to be saying, so I smiled back, and nodded. He had needed this as much as Harry had.

After we finished, I stopped Harry from leaving just yet. "Harry, I have one more gift left. It's more of a promise than an actual present, but I'm sure you'll love it."

Harry looked at me curiously, but followed me into the living room without comment, Sirius close behind.

"Your father and his friends became animagi when they were fifteen, you know this. What I don't think you know is that they took two years to get it right, which means they started when they were thirteen. You're fourteen now, and you're mature enough to understand the dangers. So how would you like to be an animagus?"

**A/N: Ok, so there were actually 2 surprises, but what did you think? Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I haven't quite finished chapter 4, so it might be a while before I update after this, but then again, I did just come down wih a bad cold, so I might find time tomorrow, as I'm not going to school...  
Anywhoo, lots of thanks to my reviewers and everyone who put this on alert (even though there were some who hadn't read 'Along came Emma' (how did you guys read this?)). Enjoy!**

Chapter 3

It took a while for my proposal to sink in, but when it did, Harry regarded me hopefully. "Really? You'll teach me how to become an animagus?" he asked incredulously.

Sirius was frowning at me over the youth's head.

"I will, but there are a few conditions."

"Anything!" Harry agreed enthusiastically, a huge grin spreading over his face.

"First of all, you can't teach your friends. This is highly illegal and dangerous as it is, and you can get them and their parents in big trouble if you get found out. Second of all, you're not to do anything by yourself, you're to be supervised by Sirius or myself at all times. I'm warning you, Harry, it's hard work and it will probably take most of the year, you'll have to do a lot of research on your own, but I can provide you with most of the books you'll need, unless your form is a rare one. It's not even certain if you can, some people don't have the talent for it, like Dumbledore. Are you following me so far?" I asked, checking if his enthusiasm wasn't impairing his listening skills.

"No teaching my friends, there's no certainty that I can become and animagus, it's hard work, don't do anything unsupervised…" Harry ticked them off on his fingers, still smiling broadly.

I rolled my eyes, he'd be complaining soon enough. "This is on top of your other lessons, so you still have to keep up that work, and your homework as soon as school starts. I know you're mature, Harry, so I expect you to use this knowledge responsibly, unlike that idiot of a godfather you have."

"Oi!" Sirius objected, but I ignored him.

"If you don't, I'll be sorely disappointed in you, and I'll become like every other boring guardian, and not teach you the cool stuff. You understand why I'm setting these rules for you?" I asked. I couldn't start teaching him if he wasn't going to be serious about this – no pun intended.

Harry's smile melted off his face. "Yes, ma'am," he said, but there was no trace of sarcasm or cheek in his tone. I was satisfied.

"Off with you, then, go amuse yourself. Don't go to bed too late!" I added as he ran out the door.

"Other lessons?" Sirius questioned, moving to the chair Harry had just vacated.

"I'm teaching him things I feel he needs to know, like proper duelling skills, some advanced DADA, and hand-to-hand. I think I'll start teaching him how to wield swords and daggers next summer," I explained.

Sirius frowned. "How are you teaching him DADA if he's not allowed to use a wand?" he asked curiously. I hadn't really expected him to be angry about this, but I didn't really think he'd take an interest either.

"We're using fake wands with coloured dye. He shouts the correct spell and the colour of the spell shoots out, like red for stupefy, blue for confundus charms, and so on."

Sirius nodded absently, thinking to himself. "Mind if I watch next time?" he asked.

I shrugged. "It's your house too now, as long as Harry doesn't mind, I won't either. Besides, I'd be good for him to have a sparring partner other than me, so I can correct him without having to stay where I am," I reasoned.

Sirius had looked up sharply when I'd said 'your house too', but I ignored it, I knew how much it meant to him, but I was sure he didn't want any attention drawn to it.

We joined Harry in the living room, where he lay on his stomach in front of the fire, trying to figure out his transfiguration homework. We passed the evening in silence, with Sirius helping Harry and me reading a book until Harry figured out that Sirius was giving him the wrong directions and pulled out his fake wand. He squirted orange dye all over Sirius, to which he changed into his dag form, and started chasing Harry all over the house. I just rolled my eyes and made sure they didn't break anything. That is, until Sirius ran back in and his behind one of the couches. I silently put my book down, changed forms and snuck over to his tail, which stuck out. I pounced on it, making Sirius jump in surprise, and an impromptu mock-fight erupted. Soon Harry ran back in with a pillow, and joined in the strange wrestling match on the floor, pounding the both of us. Sirius and I locked eyes, nodded, and ganged up on the teenager. No one hits a cat and gets away with it!

/*/

We spent most of our evenings like that, though it never turned quite that chaotic again. Summer seemed to speed by us far too fast, with not much interesting news, except that I heard from Arthur that the Triwizard Tournament would be held at Hogwarts again. And then there were Sirius' nightmares.

The first time I noticed he was having them was a few nights after Harry's birthday party. Harry was – thankfully – sleeping over at the Weasley's, so I was the only one at home with Sirius.

I had been reading a book in my room, highlighting things I could use for Harry's lessons when I heard a scream. It was a little muffled, but there was only one person it could belong to. I ran to Sirius' room, only to find it locked. I cursed, ran back to my room to retrieve my wand, and hurried back to unlock the door. Sirius was thrashing on his bed, his screams were much louder now. It was nonsense, mostly, but I heard James and Harry's names a few times. I rushed to his side, and started shaking him awake. Sirius, still in the throws of his nightmare, had grabbed my throat. It took him less than a second to realize who I was and to release me, but in that second I was afraid he'd kill me.

"Emma, I'm so sorry," he breathed, crawling out of his bed, and kneeling next to me. He started crying, and I leaned over and pulled him into my arms, ignoring my own shivers. We sat like that for most of the night, while I mumbled comforting nonsense. Eventually, he fell asleep with his head in my lap. I tried leaving him, but as soon as I did, he became restless again. So I levitated him back into his bed and conjured a mattress for myself.

He never let go of my hand.

That became sort of a nightly ritual for us. I'd start out in my own room, but most nights I migrated to his, once I heard him scream. I had put a silencing charm on Harry's door so he wouldn't be disturbed by it, though I told him it was so he could study during the day if he needed to.

Eventually, I put a permanent bed into Sirius' room and just moved in there. No one ever mentioned anything about those sleeping arrangements.

/*/

By the end of August he was doing better, though, so I had moved back into my own room. I received an invite from Arthur on the 20 August to go to the Quidditch World Cup with his family on the 22nd. I gratefully accepted, not knowing Sirius would whine for two days to convince me to let him come. I agreed to let him come if he wore a collar. He sulked.

I managed to convince Arthur and Molly to let Harry, Hermione – who was staying at the Weasley's – and Ron and his sister come with me a day early. We set up my old tent at a very good spot. It was so nice to be rich.

The tent had two rooms with each three beds, so the boys – which included Padfoot – could take one, and the girls and I. We spend the evening playing games and having fun. I taught all of them how to build a campfire without their wands, and then made smores; an American tradition I had picked up on the other side of the pond.

There were about three dozen families already here, some of whom I knew the name. Harry and Ron, followed closely by Padfoot, quickly drifted off when they heard Seamus Finnigan, a fellow Gryffindor, had been here since the semi-finale, which Ireland won against Japan. I was left with the girls.

"So Ginny, what do you like to do?" I asked kindly. I really didn't know the youngest Weasley that well, and she seemed like a nice girl.

"I like to play Quidditch," she offered. I already knew this, having watched – and occasionally participated in – their pick up games.

"You always play chaser, am I right?" I asked. "Is there any other position you like to play?"

Hermione pulled out a book when she realized this was all we were likely to be talking about, and Ginny pulled her knees up to her chest. "I'm a pretty good seeker, but every time Charlie's home he gets to play. Not that I mind, I'm better chaser anyway, but it'd be nice to be able to practice…"

"Well you know my door's always open, and I'd love to train with you sometime, it'd give me an excuse to get on my broom again. What's your favourite team?" I asked, genuinely interested. There was something about this girl, something in her eyes.

"The Holyhead Harpies, I love their women only policy, and they're a great team, I'd love to see them play!" And gone was the quiet, shy girl. In her place was a girl with a spark in her eyes.

"I agree. Officially, I have to be a fan of the Ballycastle Bats, but between you and me, I root for the Harpies," I said with a conspiratorial smile. "So what's your favourite subject at school?"

"Charms," she replied, shifting so she sat cross-legged. We continued to talk for a while, and I decided I liked Ginny, she had a sharp sense of humour when she wanted to, and she could talk very animatedly. Hermione joined us as soon as she heard that Quidditch was no longer the topic.

Eventually, the boys came back, and we all went to bed.

/*/

The match was amazing! Ireland won, but Bulgaria caught the snitch. Everyone was a bit crazy about their seeker, Krum. I didn't get the attraction after having seen him up close, but then, I wasn't a hormonal teenage girl, or a boy with hero-worship.

Sirius had enjoyed himself immensely. I did have to stop him from acting too human a few times. As I was sitting next to Ginny and Hermione, I got to know the girls a little better, and, while everyone was distracted, we planned to play a prank on the boys.

All of us were in high spirits as we returned to the campsite at Ireland's win. While all the boys were at the Weasley's tent, Hermione, Ginny and I booby trapped their beds, and then joined them. Those girls had some vicious minds when they wanted to, but we kept the cruelness to a minimum.

Again, the night was spent in laughter and fun, especially when the twins started telling jokes, until they realized Ludo Bagman wasn't going to pay them their winnings. Apparently they'd bet on the match, and had guessed right. But then Arthur decided that his sons couldn't get all the attention. Who would've thought he had a mischievous streak? We didn't stay up for too long, though, just long enough to have a cup of hot cocoa.

When we eventually did go to bed, far later than I would normally have let Harry – and myself – stay up, all of us girls were already in bed when we heard a yelp coming from the boy's room, closely followed by muted coughing.

I smiled at the two other girls, fetched my wand and a muggle camera I'd bought earlier that summer, and went to clean up the boys. I had charmed their beds so that the minute someone would sit down on them, they'd be coated in wet flour and feathers.

"That'll teach you to stare at veelas," I said, trying terribly hard – and failing – to hide my laughter. Harry and Ron looked a little like marble statues, if marble statues were ever covered from head to toe in feathers. I surreptitiously took a picture with the camera, glad that the flour had also gotten in their eyes, so they wouldn't see. I 'scourgified' them, and heard their muttered promises of revenge with a smile on my face.

I was about to turn away, when I heard a faint whining. Sirius had already settled next to Harry's bed, on the ground, and had apparently slept through the boy's embarrassment, and had already sunken into another nightmare.

'_Probably because we're not at home anymore,' _I thought to myself, and shook the dog awake. He looked at me with a guilty expression in his eyes, and got ready to settle down again, but I waved him toward the girl's room.

"Good night, Harry, Ron," I whispered as I left the room, followed by Padfoot. Back in our own room, Hermione had already fallen asleep, and I made a mental note to show her the pictures the next morning. Ginny was still fighting sleep in her own bed, watching as I crawled back in my own bed, and Padfoot settled on top of the blanket, on my legs.

"Emma?" she asked, her voice betraying her fatigue.

"Yes?" I whispered back, hoping we wouldn't wake Hermione.

"Thanks for… yesterday, and today, it was fun."

I smile warmly at the redhead. "You're more than welcome." I hesitated a moment, but added: "Ginny? If you ever need to talk about something, and you don't feel like you can talk to your mum… You're perfectly welcome to owl me."

She smiled broadly. "Thank you," she said, yawned, and promptly closed her eyes and went to sleep. I decided to follow her example.

**A/N: So, did y'all hate me for the horrible cliffhanger I put in in chapter 2? And tell me what you think, especially about Ginny's altered role, I need feedback!**

**Review!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, so I managed to finish chapter 5 this afternoon, and started on chapter 6 (though I haven't gotten very far). I can't wait to write write the yule ball, that's going to be great ^^**

Chapter 4

I woke up to a wet nose pushing my face urgently. When I just pushed him away, Padfoot decided to use desperate measures. He barked loudly, right next to my ear.

"Padfoot, what the h–" I started, but then I heard the noises from outside. The jolly singing from last night had given way to terrified screams and the sound of people running. Ginny and Hermione, now also awake, stared at me, their eyes wide with fear.

"Grab a jacket and wake the boys," I told them and went to assess the situation with Padfoot close by me. As soon as I noticed the dark-cloaked figures with white masks, I swore under my breath and turned back into the tent. The four teenagers were now standing behind me.

"It's Death Eaters, Harry grab a jacket with a hood, and _keep it on_! Head to the woods, and follow the crowds. Stay together, and for god's sakes, don't go looking for trouble. If you find people you know, stay with them. I'm going to find the rest of the Weasleys and help the ministry. Understood?"

They all nodded.

"I'll come find you afterwards," I said and cast a locator spell on Harry, who glowed blue for a brief second.

Then, I shoved them outside. As soon as they had left, Sirius changed to his human form. "I want to help!" he said urgently.

"How? As soon as they see you they'll arrest you!"

He looked so pained, and I could tell he saw my side of the argument, so I gave in. "Hold still," I told him and pointed my wand at him, changing his appearance.

He now sported dirty blonde hair, a longer and pointier nose, higher cheekbones and a rounder chin. He looked very mismatched, but it was the best I could do on such short notice. At least he didn't look like himself anymore.

He grinned. "Thanks, Emmers," he said and headed out of the tent, brandishing his wand. I'd given him my father's old wand for now, which was also a dragon string wand, so it worked alright for him.

"Just don't get hit with a finite incantatem, it'll negate the changes I've made," I told him as we ran into the fray, shooting curses left and right.

We duelled about a dozen Death Eaters in total, I think, but a lot of them apparated away when they saw a semi-organised resistance. And even more vanished when the Dark Mark appeared above the forest.

"Harry!" I breathed. I grabbed Sirius' hand and apparated, concentrating on the locator spell I'd put on Harry.

We arrived in the forest – thankfully not splinched – right underneath the Dark Mark. I took all this in, in less than a second, before grabbing the closest teen, in this case Ron, and pulled him down. "Duck!" I yelled, just as the aurors appeared all around us and cast stupefies.

None of us got hit by any of the spells, however, and the aurors stopped firing when Arthur yelled at them that one of us was his son.

I let go of Ron and stood up, looking around. Sirius had turned back into his dog form before the aurors had arrived, and sat by my leg obediently. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny seemed all right, if a little shaken.

Arthur strode forward and hugged his daughter. "Out of the way, Arthur!" said a cold, curt voice.

I vaguely recognised the man, but couldn't put a name to the face, which was now taut with rage. "Which of you did it?!" he snapped, his sharp eyes going over all of us. He pointed his wand directly at Harry, who still had the hood of his jacket on. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?!"

The trio, minus Ginny, who was now sobbing into her father's chest, immediately protested.

"Do not lie, sir!" he shouted at Ron, looking more than a little mad.

"Barty," a witch in a woollen dressing gown whispered, but before she could continue, my anger had already reached its boiling point.

"They're children! There's no way they could've conjured that, I'd bet those two boys didn't even know what it was!" I exclaimed.

The man, who I now remembered was called Barty Crouch, former head of the justice system, now swung his wand to me. "You're not a child! Confess!"

"I've only just apparated in, I was cursing Death Eaters back at the camp site!" I protested.

"That's right, Barty, I saw her just before the Mark appeared, she could've never gotten here in time," an unknown wizard said.

"So how did you know where to apparate to?! Perhaps you taught these children and work with them as an accomplice!"

That bloke was seriously mental.

"Barty that's enough! Where did the Mark come from, you three," Mr. Weasley said quickly, trying to diffuse the situation. I noticed he didn't include his daughter in that, but pushed that thought aside, it wasn't important right now.

Hermione explained where they'd heard it from, and Crouch went on to accuse them, but none of the other wizards surrounding them seemed to think it was likely they'd cast it. I put an arm around Harry comfortingly as a man identified as Mr Diggory went to look for the culprit among the trees.

I squeezed Harry's arm for a second, before going over to Mr. Weasley's side and took a shivering Ginny from him, so he could actually move his arms. She wasn't crying anymore, but she still seemed to be in shock. "Shh, it's alright, it's over."

Mr. Diggory had found what was supposedly the culprit; a small, female house elf, that apparently belonged to Mr. Crouch.

They woke her, and questioned her. She said she hadn't done it, and I felt sorry for the little elf as she rocked back and forth.

Mr. Diggory showed her the wand, to demand why she had it, when Harry spoke up. "Hey, that's mine!"

I looked at the wand closely, and, sure enough, it was Harry's wand. Of course, this set Mr. Diggory off again, and he demanded if this was a confession.

Padfoot growled at the man. "Excuse me, but I don't believe you have the right to question an underage wizard without his guardian's consent, and I do _not_ consent. He did _not _conjure the Dark Mark, he's Harry Potter for god's sakes! You won't find anyone less likely to be helping Voldemort!" I shouted, ignoring the shudders that went through the crowd.

"I didn't drop it there, anyway," Harry said. "I missed it right after we got into the wood."

Ginny had gotten a hold of herself enough now that she could stand on her own; the only sign that she ever lost control were her bloodshot eyes. I released her, but gave her a gentle push toward her brother, and went over to Harry, standing behind him in support.

Mr. Diggory went back to accusing the elf, until Hermione stood up for her. "It wasn't her!" she said. She twisted the hem of her jumper in her hands; nervous at speaking out in front of this many ministry officials, probably. "Winky's got a squeaky little voice, and the voice we heard doing the incantation was much deeper! It didn't sound anything like Winky, did it?" she asked, looking around at the boys and Ginny for support.

"No," said Harry, shaking his head. "It definitely didn't sound like an elf."

Ginny nodded. "It was a human voice, probably a man."

Someone had the idea of checking which spell was last used with Harry's wand, but I didn't see who. I had winked and smiled at Ginny. I was proud that she'd spoken up in front of all these people.

Mr Diggory placed his wand tip against Harry's, and said the Prior Incantato spell. The image that came out of the wand was a smaller likeness of the skull still floating above our head.

Mr. Crouch finally took the accusation serious and began yelling at Diggory. While I still didn't think Mr. Crouch was the most pleasant fellow to be around, but he rose in my estimation at that moment. Accusing an elf and a fourteen-year-old boy of conjuring the Dark Mark! It was a wonder the ministry could still function with people like that in office.

After that, Mr. Weasley finally established that Winky had found Harry's wand right underneath the Dark Mark.

Mr. Crouch, however, didn't have any sympathy for his elf and promised to give her clothes. Winky started crying hysterically. Hermione tried to defend the elf, but Crouch ignored her.

"Well, I think I'll have this lot back to the tent if nobody has any objections. Amos, that wand has told us all it can, if Harry could have it back?"

Mr. Diggory handed Harry his wand back, who immediately pocketed it. I made a mental note to get him a wand-holder for Christmas.

We made out way back to the Weasley's tent in silence, except for Hermione's questions about Winky and elf rights. Something wet touched my hand, Padfoot looked at me, looking a little nervous. I rested my hand on his head, which easily reached mid-thigh, and scratched behind his ear.

We arrived at the tent soon enough. When we got in, I could see the damage the others had sustained. Bill was bleeding profusely from his arm, Charlie had a large rip in his shirt, but didn't actually seem hurt, and Percy was sporting a bleeding nose.

I walked over to the oldest of the Weasley children, took out my wand, and began chanting. I knew quite a bit about healing, having had James as a big brother, and Lily for a sister-in-law. My mother had once been a healer at St. Mungo's, before she'd had James, so I learnt a lot from her. I still wasn't exactly an expert, but I could heal most common, and some less common, injuries.

While I focussed on my task, I was vaguely aware of the others telling the story of what had happened. When I finished, Bill flexed his arm and nodded his thanks. There would always be a fine scar, but that couldn't be helped right now. I smiled at him and went over to Percy. A bloody nose, luckily, was fairly easy. Unlike my first thought, Charlie had indeed been hurt, but only superficially. He had probably been grazed by a diffindo curse. He was lucky.

I quickly healed him up as well, and went over to the stove, I had to keep busy. I was only barely aware of Mr. Weasley telling Harry and Ron about Death Eaters and the last War.

I made hot chocolate for everyone, and conjured mattresses when it was decided we should stay together that night, my tent had several anti-burglary spells on it anyway.

I didn't sleep that night, instead choosing to keep watch at the tent's entrance with Padfoot by my side. I highly doubted anything else would happen now that the excitement was over, but I as restless.

Harry had been right there when the Dark Mark was conjured, in the thick of things as usual. He could've been killed, and I would've been too late. Padfoot nosed my neck with his cold nose, and I cringed. "Padfoot, what-?" But then I understood. I pulled out the pendants Dumbledore had given Harry and me, and realized they had not gotten chilly once. They had been a little warm ever since they had woken up, but never uncomfortably so, and I had been too distracted by the Death Eaters to notice it, but they hadn't turned cold. I wondered if they would give me a warning, or I they would only turn cold when there was no turning back anymore.

I absently scratched Padfoot behind the ears and looked into his intelligent eyes. I vowed then and there that I would do anything to protect both Harry and Sirius, even if it killed me.

**A/N: Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Chapter six might take some time, I hate writers block... But maybe your reviews could help?**

Chapter 5

Harry was hiding something. I knew Hermione and Ron knew about it, but none of them were willing to tell me anything, no matter how many hints I dropped that I should probably know. Normally, I would've let Harry have his secrets – all teenagers have them after all – but with this one I had the feeling it was troubling him.

"Something's up with Harry," I mentioned to Sirius one morning after Harry had gone over to the Weasley's again. "I feel like he's hiding something."

Sirius chewed his toast and refused to look me in the eye. "You know something!" I accused him, snatching his plate away from him so he couldn't stuff his mouth and get away with not explaining. He'd tried that one before.

"I promised not to tell you, Emmers, godfather's honour," he tried weakly.

I raised an eyebrow. "You have no honour, Sirius, why wouldn't he want me to know?" I asked, feeling a little hurt that Harry had felt more comfortable talking to his godfather than to me.

Sirius looked decidedly uncomfortable. "It really wasn't a big deal, Emma, it's not that he didn't want to tell you, he just didn't want to worry you over nothing."

I reluctantly let it go, after Sirius repeated another million times that it was no big deal.

A few days after the World Cup, I decided to begin Harry's animagus lessons. I'd called him into the library, where I gave him all of his non-practical lessons, and had conjured a large mirror.

Harry frowned at the new object, but didn't say anything.

"The first thing to do if you want to become an animagus, is to figure out what shape you'll take, or if you'll be able to change at all. There are two different ways to do it. The first would require you to get into a trance-like state, hypnosis if you will. You'd be able to call your animal shape to the front of your mind, and see what it is. The other way is far simpler, and is one that professor McGonagall perfected."

I put my hands on his shoulders and guided him until he stood in front of the mirror. "I want you to concentrate Harry, think very hard about what it means to be an animagus, and then cast the spell 'animalis revelio'"

Harry looked at me, a smile tugging at his lips. "Animalis revelio? Not very mysterious, is it?"

I swatted him on the arm. "It doesn't have to be mysterious, it has to work." From the corner of my eyes, I saw Sirius come in and lean against the door frame, not interrupting, but interested all the same.

Harry faced the mirror again and closed his eyes, then he raised his hand and cast the spell. To me and Sirius, nothing changed, but when Harry opened his eyes, he gasped and reached out, as if to touch the mirror.

"What do you see?" Sirius asked, coming into the room fully now.

Harry turned around and frowned at him. "Can't you see?" he asked, looking back into the mirror.

"No one but the caster can see, Harry, it's part of the spell," I explained, bursting with curiosity myself. I wondered idly if he'd be a stag, like his father.

"It's a wolf, a big black wolf, but he has green eyes, and… I think I can see my scar on its forehead," he said, leaning closer to take a better look.

Not like his father, then, but not bad either. A wolf was a pretty fun shape to have, big enough to still have fun, and not too strange that people might mistake it for a dog. I smiled at him. "That's great, Harry, now use finite incantatem on the mirror, and we can begin your training," I said, already heading to the bookcase I'd reserved for this. I took out a huge stack of books and laid them out on the desk next to it.

Harry and Sirius followed me a moment later, the latter smiling because he knew what was coming now. I swatted him and told Harry to sit down.

"I'm afraid the next phase of your training won't be your favourite, but if that dollophead of a godfather of yours could do it, than so can you. These are all books on canine animagi. You need to copy all the information you feel is relevant to your form, and then figure out the spells you'll have to use to transfigure each of your body parts separately," I explained, opening a book and indicating an example about a wolf animagus.

Harry frowned in distaste. "Can't I just use the spells another wolf animagus used?" he asked.

"No, Harry, because you aren't the same as every other wizard, and neither will your animagus form. If you'd use someone else's spells, you wouldn't be you anymore, and you might not be able to turn back," Sirius said. I knew he'd tried that when he first transfigured his arm, and had to spend a week in the Hospital Wing for Poppy to get it back to normal. He'd told her it was a transfiguration charm gone wrong, which it was, just not in the way Poppy thought.

Harry nodded morosely, and set to work. "Look on the bright side, Harry," I said as I sat down on the other side of the desk, pulling another book to me. "At least you can do this without Sirius or me supervising you, so you can continue at Hogwarts.

Sirius looked at me and rolled his eyes. He knew of my surprise, but he wasn't telling, and neither was I.

We did this all afternoon, with each of us taking turns in keeping the snacks coming. At five, I called it a day, and the boys eagerly followed my example. Harry wanted to go to the Weasley's to tell Hermione and Ron all about it, and I let him go, repeating that he shouldn't be teaching or encouraging them to try it on their own.

/*/

The following morning was August 26th, and I desperately had to take Harry to Diagon Alley to do some shopping. What with all that had been going on, I'd completely forgotten, partly because the Weasleys hadn't gone on their annual shopping trip, as they usually would have. In stead, Mrs. Weasley had done all of it.

The day went by fairly fast, and, after having sundaes for lunch, all we had to go get was dressrobes for Harry – I wouldn't tell him why, and it was driving him up the wall –owl treats, and potions supplies.

"Come on, Emma, why won't you tell me?" Harry whined as Madame Malkin took his measurements. Sirius lay in a patch of sunlight, pretending to ignore our conversation, but I could tell he wanted to laugh.

"I told you, I can't tell you, but you'll be grateful to have them soon enough. I can assure you Molly's gotten some for her own bunch too, now stand still, otherwise we'll be here all afternoon," I admonished mildly, looking around the shop.

When we finally finished, with promises from Madame Malkin that she'd send the robes as soon as they were ready, we got everything else we needed, leaving the owl treats for last. Harry quickly got the ones Hedwig liked best, while I browsed the shop. _'It would be nice to have an owl of my own…'_ I thought, as my eyes landed on a black owl of about Hedwig's size, maybe a little bigger. "Hello, fella," I whispered and stuck my fingers in the cage. The owl nibbled them obligingly, and then stared at me, as if he expected me to get him something.

I joined Harry at the counter, the owl cage in my hand. He looked at me. "Getting an owl?"

"Nah, I'm just carrying this one around for fun. Of course I'm getting an owl. I can't always use Hedwig, now can I?" I saw Padfoot roll his eyes at me. I pushed him with my foot.

Harry shrugged and I paid for the owl and the treats.

As we walked back up the Alley, my thoughts wandered back to the Weasleys. "Hey, Harry, can you do me a favour?" I asked. Padfoot perked up his ears, clearly interested.

Harry nodded. "Sure, Emma, what?"

"Could you find out if Ron got dressrobes from his parents, and if not, what his size is?"

"You shouldn't feel sorry for them, you know," Harry said, but nodded all the same.

"I don't feel sorry for them, Harry, they have everything they could ever need with their family, but they did take care of you for two years. An extra mouth to feed can be very expensive for people who don't have as much as we do. I just want to help, and besides, I owe it to them for keeping you out of my hair all summer, you'd've driven me crazy!" I teased, bumping his shoulder.

He smiled at me. "I'm sorry. I'll be sneaky about it, I promise."

"That's my boy," I replied. "Race you!" And I tore off to the end of the Alley, Sirius quickly gaining on me, and Harry not far behind.

My family might be slightly (okay a lot) dysfunctional, but I wouldn't trade them for the world.

/*/

The day before everyone would go to Hogwarts, I got an unexpected guest. Harry was off somewhere with his friends, and I had the house to myself again. I had been playing a game of exploding snap with Sirius in the kitchen when the fireplace chimed. I quickly cleaned up the cards while Sirius changed shape and bounded into the living room.

I heard laughter coming from the room, along with a "down, boy, down!" that couldn't have been Harry's. I poked my head in the door and saw Ginny Weasley scratching Padfoot behind the ear.

"Hello, Ginny," I said, a little confused as to why she was there. Usually she was accompanied by almost all the Weasley boys, and they would be on their way to the Quidditch Pitch.

"Hello, Mrs. – I mean, Emma," she said, standing up straight. She seemed a little nervous, and I was glad Padfoot was there to break the tension a little.

I smiled warmly at her. "Care for a cuppa tea?" I asked, and, at her nod, preceded her into the kitchen.

She received her tea with a smile, and stared into the liquid. I raised an eyebrow at Padfoot, who shrugged and lay down at my feet.

"Is there something I can help you with, Ginny?" I asked kindly, taking a sip from my own tea. I pulled the sugar pot closer to me and scooped a few generous spoonfuls of sugar in my tea.

"You know that's not healthy, right?" she asked, looking at my tea.

"I'm perfectly aware of that, thank you," I said with a wink.

Ginny stirred her tea for another few minutes, and I was about to ask what was on her mind when she finally spoke up. "You remember you told me I could talk to you about anything?" she asked, keeping her eyes on her tea.

"Yes, and that offer still stands."

"The boys all have to get dressrobes," she said, seemingly changing the subject at random. "You should see Ron's, they're hideous, but he hasn't seen them yet. I can't wait to see his face," she joked, smiling mischievously at the prospect. Then she sobered. "Mom won't buy me new dressrobes, she told me to take an old dress of hers, but…"

"But you actually want to look good if there's a party and an upperclassman invites you," I finished.

Ginny looked up and nodded. Then she blushed. "I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry." She got up, but before she could reach the door, I'd grabbed her hand.

"You've got nothing to be ashamed of, Ginny, I don't think your mum is capable of seeing you as a thirteen year old teenager, instead of her little girl. She probably hasn't even considered the possibility that you'll be asked. And if I have something to say about it, you _will_ be asked," I said, and started leading her to the living room.

"Now, I'm not the best at making things, and I'm not the most fashionable person," I said, indicating my comfy jeans and simple t-shirt, with my hair in a messy bun on top of my head. "But I do know something about balls and gowns, having grown up with my mum. I'll just take your measurements, and send them to Madame Malkin's. I think a deep green would look lovely on you, or do you prefer blue?"

"Euhm… I don't know…" she said uncertainly, as I conjured and charmed a tape measure, a little like the one Ollivander had.

"I'm thinking green, and of course it has to be floor-length. Have you ever danced, Ginny?" I asked, focussing on the girl in front of me, instead of the mental picture of the dress that was forming.

"Only with my brothers, but I'm not too bad at it."

"Great," I said brightly, and started planning. Ginny, slowly but surely became more comfortable and confident. I was looking forward to seeing the other Weasley boys realize that their sister was growing up.

Padfoot had wandered out once he realized all we'd talk about was 'girly' stuff.

**A/N: Yes, Ginny and Emma are going to be good friends, and they will gang up on Harry ^^ **

**Like I said: review! Tell me what you think of the obvious hint I left, and about Ginny's bigger role.**

**I promise there will be more Sirius in the next few chapters!  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm really sorry it's been this long, but I promise this chapter starts with at least some fluff!  
The next chapter might take a while as well, since I have to look up a lot of stuff in the book and on **

**Anywhoo, enjoy!**

Chapter 6

I was dreaming. At least, I thought I was. I was in King's Cross, waiting for… _someone_.

"Come on, Emmers, it's almost 11!" a familiar voice shouted. I turned and saw Sirius standing next to the entrance to platform 9¾. "I'm coming!" I shouted, and walked over. I realized I was holding someone's hand, and when I looked, I saw a little girl of about 9. She had black hair and grey eyes, and she was humming to herself, a small smile playing along her lips. She looked up at me.

"When do I get to go to Hogwarts, mommy?" she asked.

I smiled as we went through the arch. "Soon, love, only a few more years. Now come on, let's say goodbye to your brother and your cousins."

We caught up to Sirius, who slipped his arm around my waist. He had been talking to another black-haired man, a man who was very familiar to me.

"Is Harry on the train already, James?" I heard myself ask. It was as if I was just a passenger, and I had no control over this body.

James nodded. "Yes, Lily's saying goodbye to him and Katie. I can't believe my little girl is starting Hogwarts this year! And Harry's already fourteen!" he said in amazement. I just laughed and leant back into Sirius' embrace. As I put my hand to rest on his arm, I noticed the wedding band on my finger.

"If you're surprised, imagine how I feel!" Sirius exclaimed. "Our son is going for his first year too! And he's our firstborn. And then there's another one on his or her way, I don't know how we'll cope!"

I looked down and saw that I did indeed have a slight swell to my belly. "Well, if it's a girl, she'll have enough big brothers to protect her," I reasoned. The train whistled loudly, and I watched as Lily jumped off of it, followed closely by a little boy. He had black hair, but it was much neater than James', he also looked far more like Lily, but had inherited his father's hazel eyes. The boy immediately went off with my daughter somewhere, but I wasn't worried.

Behind them, Remus came off of the train, hand-in-hand with a bespectacled brown-haired woman I didn't know.

"Hello, Emma, what took you so long?" Remus asked, coming to stand with our little group.

"Nothing, just reminiscing. Said goodbye to Julie?" I asked.

It was the woman who answered. "Yes, she was so nervous, it's a good thing she has her 'cousins'," the woman said with a smile in my direction.

We all turned to the train, as the whistle blew one last time. A window opened and a head popped out. "Mum, you didn't say goodbye!" he shouted at me.

"I'm sorry sweetheart. Be a good boy, and listen to Harry! And take care of Julie and Liv!" I shouted, referring to James' daughter. "And write to me! I love you!" I added.

"Love you too, mum," he replied as the train began moving. He pulled his head back in for the others in the compartment to come to the window and shout at their respective parents.

As the red train slowly disappeared from view, I felt Sirius nuzzling my neck. "You worry too much, he'll be fine," he whispered.

"I know… but he's our _son_, Sirius, I can't help it."

He turned me around in his arms. "I love you," he said, and leaned down to kiss me.

And then I woke up.

I glared at my alarm clock, and wished it had just waited five more minutes. This just made me angry with myself. I had no business dreaming about Sirius like that, he was my friend, that's all. _'Yeah, right,'_a small corner of my mind whispered. I firmly told it to shut up, and got up. I had to get three teenagers on a train today.

/*/

The first of September was hectic as only the first of September could be, and Sirius was no help at all. At least I only had three to prepare. Ron and Hermione had spent the night, so neither Molly nor I would be too busy.

"Harry, Ron, come on! We have to go!" I yelled up the stairs. Hermione was already completely finished, and was waiting in the living room, talking to Sirius, who was still in his human form.

I headed upstairs to see if they were almost finished, and found them at the top of the stairs. "We were wondering whether to just throw them down, or carry them," Harry said sheepishly.

I rolled my eyes and levitated the trunks.

By the time I came into the living room again, Hermione was just stepping in the fireplace, along with her own luggage. Each of the boys took their own trunks and did the same, while Sirius changed forms. He had to stand on his back legs and put his paws on my shoulders so I could take him with me.

It had taken a lot of whining on his side for me to let him go, after what had happened at the World Cup, but I had given in (I see a pattern here). As soon as we stumbled out of the fireplace, Padfoot was bounding all over the place, as excited as a five-year-old.

The smile slipped from my face for a second, as I remembered my dream. He should be able to be there in person to see them off, as should James. _'My dream was how life should have been, with James and Lily seeing off their own kids – plural – and Remus with his own family, and Sirius…' _I sighed. _'And Sirius with his own family as well,'_ I thought.

We eventually made to King's Cross, and we all said our goodbyes. Mrs. Weasleys was a bit teary eyes, and everyone of the adults was having fun hinting at what was to come this year, but none of us actually gave anything away.

"Give it a few more hours, Dumbledore will tell you. At the very latest he'll make an announcement at breakfast," I assured the trio. Ginny had gone off to sit with her own friends, and the twins were probably plotting somewhere.

I stepped back onto the platform, and joined the adults, and a whining Padfoot as the train started moving.

Suddenly a head popped out of a window, and Harry looked around for me. When he spotted me, he said: "Hey Emma… bye!"

I smiled. "I love you too, Harry!" I said, and was happy that his grin grew before he retracted his head.

Soon, the train was gone, and only adults were left on the platform. A wet nose nuzzled my hand, and I saw Padfoot looking up at me with curious eyes. I raised a hand to my face, and realized my eyes were wet.

When Harry had stuck his head out of the train like that, it had reminded me so strongly of what my son had done in my dream…

I wiped my eyes, and told Padfoot I was fine, ignoring the fact that I was talking to a dog. It was only 11:05 and I was already exhausted.

"Come on, Padfoot, let's go home."

/*/

Two hours later, and Sirius was obviously getting stir crazy. He had already opened three books, and closed them after reading five words, walked seven rounds around the room, and now, he was peering over my shoulder at the potions recipe I was researching for Harry's animagus transformation.

He'd been doing that for about a minute when I slammed my book and glared at him. "Sirius, if you don't find something to do _away from me_ within the next three seconds, I will curse you into next week!" I really hadn't meant to snap, but he was just being so annoying!

"But I'm bored!" he whined, letting himself fall onto the couch next to me.

"So read something, or go flying, just _don't_ bother _me_," I said testily. Sirius just continued pouting at me. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Fine, what do you _want_ to do?" I asked in exasperating.

It took Sirius a while, but he eventually managed to convince me to take him to Diagon Alley, and it irritated me that he could convince me so easily. At least he'd be wearing a better disguise than the one I'd hastily given him at the World Cup.

We visited Quality Quidditch Supplies and Zonko's (obviously), and the apothecary (at my insistence).

We arrived at Ollivander's, and I bought Sirius a new wand, as his old one had been snapped when he was arrested. I also bought a second wand for myself and adjustable wand-holders for Harry and me. I had found out first-hand that a wand is easily misplaced or summoned by an enemy. Some schools in America required all their students to purchase one. A second wand was also something most wizards don't account for. Some really experienced aurors, like Mad-Eye Moody, did carry two, but most didn't.

"Want to go get some ice cream?" Sirius asked impatiently as I paid for my purchases. I rolled my eyes. He had the attention span of a five-year-old.

"Fine, come on!"

We ended up sitting there and talking for almost an hour. He really did have a great sense of humour. As he dug into his sundae, I couldn't help but think his disguise took away from his usual good looks. In the month he'd lived with Harry and I he'd gained most of the weight he'd lost in Azkaban, especially since he'd started working with weights to work up his muscle again. But now, with blonde hair and sharper features, he seemed so strange to me, yet still familiar. If I closed my eyes I could almost imagine him talking like this to James and Remus – I purposefully left Peter out of it – back before everything went south.

"Hey Emma, wake up! I was just in the middle of an epic prank story!" he whined, and I opened my eyes again.

"I was listening," I argued, but smiled all the same and finished my ice cream.

Sirius, eager to continue talking about his prank, quickly dived back into his story, while I returned to my reverie.

My dream that morning had reminded me of something that I had been trying very hard to forget; Sirius was a very handsome man, and I was just human. So, yes, I might've felt a teensy-weensy little bit of attraction toward him, but it was totally natural, right? After all, he'd been like a big brother to me growing up, they could change, right?

"...Okay, now you're really not listening," he pouted. I snapped myself back to the conversation at hand, insisting that I had been paying attention, and then duly listening and laughing as he regaled me with more 'war' stories.

/*/

As Harry supervised the High Table, he noticed that there were rather more empty seats than usual. Of course Hagrid was still on his way, and McGonagall was probably waiting for him, but there was another empty seat where the Defence Against the Dark Arts would usually sit. And then there was an extra chair that wasn't there the previous years.

"Maybe they couldn't get anyone!" Hermione said, looking anxious. Harry just shrugged and let himself get drawn into a conversation about Quidditch with Ron, Seamus and Dean. The conversation only lasted a few minutes, before Hermione poked him in the side.

"Oi! What was that for?" he asked, frowning at her.

"What's your aunt doing here?" she asked, looking over at the High Table. Harry turned in his seat and looked followed her gaze. Sure enough, the extra chair next to the Muggle Studies professor, was now occupied by Emma Potter. She smiled smugly and gave a little wave. Harry just frowned at her.

He was incredibly curious as to what she was doing at the High Table, but couldn't ask anything, since the first years were being let in at that moment.

Harry and his friends applauded politely for everyone sorted into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, and were enthusiastically clapping for new Gryffindors. He made sure to applaud just a little louder for Dennis Creevey.

When the sorting was finally over, the feast started, so Harry's attention was temporarily diverted. He learned there were house elves at Hogwarts, something Hermione wasn't too happy about. He could almost see the wheels turning in her head.

The food, as usual, was fantastic, but Harry was impatient to find out why Emma was here. Finally, the feast was over, and Dumbledore made the usual announcements, until he said something else. "It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

The outcry in the Great Hall was almost deafening. How could there not be a Quidditch season this year?

Dumbledore quickly silenced everyone and continued. "This is due to an event that will start in October, and will last all year—but I know for sure that you will all love it. It is my pleasure to announce that this year at Hogwarts-"

But at that moment there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open.

**A/N: So here it is! I hope you're all still with me.**

**Review!  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm sorry it's been this long, writer's block is a b*  
Anywhoo, I won't keep you any longer, I think you'll like this chapter. Enjoy!**

Chapter 7

**Emma POV**

_But at that moment there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open._

/*/

When the doors opened, I looked up to see, of all people, Alastor "Mad Eye" Moody standing in the door opening. So this was who Dumbledore had hired. I wasn't sure whether I was happy that he'd found a teacher with this much experience, or angry that he'd taken one as mad as Moody. He wasn't exactly known for his teaching skills.

He looked much worse than when I had last seen him; he had far more scars, and he looked older. On the other hand, it _had_ been almost 13 years.

He walked all the way up to the High Table, and whispered a few words to Dumbledore as they shook hands. Moody sat down on the headmaster's right-hand side.

Professor Dumbledore spoke again. "May I introduce our new professors; professor Moody, and professor Potter."

A lot of murmurs ran across the hall, and I did my best to ignore them as I stood up and gave a little wave.

"Professor Moody will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, and professor Potter will be assisting professor Burbage, teaching Muggle Studies in the lower years."

I thought I heard the word 'pureblood' a few times, before the murmurs died down. Dumbledore continued his explanation of the Tournament, but I tuned it out. As a teacher I'd already gotten it, so there was no need for me to pay attention. Instead I focussed on the students in front of me, and one of them in particular. I still couldn't believe how much my life had changed. Just a year ago, I was living in a small apartment a block away from my best friend from school, working half-time at a local store, with no social life except babysitting my friend's kids, and the local clubs. Now I was the guardian of a teenage boy, teaching at Hogwarts, and living with a falsely accused criminal, that I might have some teensy bit of feelings for.

I resisted the urge to bang my head against the table. I hadn't been able to look Sirius in the eye properly after I'd had that dream, and I knew it was ridiculous, because he'd been living with us for a month, and nothing had happened. Not that I expected something to happen, but… And now I was rambling in my own head.

Dumbledore finally finished his speech, and most students were talking amongst themselves loudly. "So are you not going to be staying at the castle? I heard from Minerva that you planned to commute," Flitwick said, coming to stand next to me.

"Yes, I have a dog, and I can't leave him, and I can't bring him here. And I really don't have that much classes anyway, just the third, fourth and sixth years. It seemed the most logical solution," I replied with a smile. "Excuse me, I think I see a certain nephew of mine over there," I said when I noticed Harry hanging back at the door to the Great Hall.

"Hey there, Greeneyes, did I surprise you?" I asked with a grin, messing up his hair. At least I was still taller than him.

"Yeah, I can't believe you kept that from me. And 'Greeneyes'? Not very original, is it?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

I shrugged and walked out of the Hall with him. "I know, but it fits, and I like it, so you're going to have to live with it." I grinned.

He grinned back, but then frowned. "What about… our mutual friend? If you're here, won't he be alone?" he asked.

"I'm not going to be staying at the castle, Harry, Padfoot will be well taken care of."

He smiled. "Good. I know I'd go stir crazy if I didn't have anyone to talk to after only a week."

"Don't worry, Harry, I'll make sure to let the dog out." I couldn't help it.

We both burst out laughing at that image.

Maybe teaching at Hogwarts would be fun?

/*/

Kids are stupid. There's no way around it, they just are. My first class was the next day; third years. I only had 11 students in my class, and that was with all the houses put together.

When the class started, everything was normal, all my students were present, and most of them were half-bloods or purebloods. And all of them were stupid.

I started out asking them questions to gauge their knowledge on muggles, but they couldn't answer even the most basic questions. Deciding to go a different direction, I asked them to tell me what they _did_ know. One timid half-blood girl hesitantly told me that muggles used electricity, and another boy said that they used _fellytone_ to talk to each other. After that I decided it was time to start my actual lesson, even though there wasn't much time left.

I took out a small model of a typical muggle house, and told my students to gather around.

I told them to study it as carefully as possible, and take notes on what was different (like the garage with the car, the typical household appliances, etc.). At the end of class, I told them they would have to turn in their notes by next week. The few students that had not taken notes groaned and already approach their classmates. Lunch was next, so I cleaned up my classroom, locked it behind me, and made my way to the Great Hall.

My thoughts went back to Sirius, and I became worried about the amount of time he spent alone. At least over the summer he'd had me and Harry. I'd have to find something for him to do, like a hobby. Hopefully that would keep him from doing stupid stuff, like going out to Diagon Alley in disguise, or going out at all.

I shook my head to clear it of those thoughts and smiled as Pomona Sprout greeted me. I got along with most of the staff, with the exception of Snape. I didn't know professors Sinistra and Trelawny very well, but that was mostly because the two women preferred to keep to themselves. Binns never left his classroom, and Septima Vector and Bathsheba Babbling were downright boring, so I didn't talk to them very often. I wasn't sure what to think about Moody, though. I'd met him nearly fifteen years ago, but never really stayed in contact, as I hadn't been part of the Order yet, but the man seated a few seats down from me seemed like a stranger man than I remembered. Then again, it had been a long time ago, and people change.

I caught students staring at me a few times throughout lunch, but I ignored them. The strangest part, though, was that they were mostly Slytherins, and their stares were more calculating than contemptuous. Luckily my new status as a teacher made it so that they at least averted their gaze when I caught them staring.

The rest of lunch passed without incident, and while I really wanted to go over to Harry and ask how his day was going, I refrained from embarrassing him and made my way home. Professor Burbage would be teaching her NEWT class in the afternoon, and I only had my next class a day later. Besides, I needed to make sure Sirius hadn't burnt down my house.

/*/

I hurried home and stepped out of the fireplace. The first thing I noticed was the uncharacteristic silence.

"Sirius?" I called out, unsure of what to make of the silence. I checked the kitchen, but he wasn't there. Not so surprising, considering Sirius total lack of cooking skills. He wasn't on the Quidditch Pitch, and he wouldn't be caught dead in the library. My parent's portrait hadn't seen him either. On my way to check his bedroom, I barely had a second's notice before a huge black dog pounded on my. We tumbled to the floor, and I changed on my way down. The dog pinned me to the ground, and smirked at me – for as far as that was possible for an animal. I narrowed my eyes and squirmed, but he wasn't having any of it. Surrender! he ordered in animal-speak. Not a chance! I replied, and licked his muzzle. The action took him by surprise, and I managed to wriggle from underneath him. Catch me if you can! I said and took off.

Sirius was close behind me and quickly caught up to me, trying to pin me down again.

Our game lasted for the better part of an hour, and led us outside, though we were careful to never leave the bounds of the wards.

I playfully nipped at his tail and dashed off when he rounded on me. I felt like a little kid again, I hadn't had this much fun since I was sixteen. Finally Sirius managed to knock me over, and pinned me again. We changed back at the same time, making Sirius hover over me, his hands on my wrists.

Both of us were breathing hard, but neither of us moved. My eyes flickered to his lips. A tiny voice in the back of my head insisted this was _wrong_, this shouldn't be happening, it was just a stupid schoolgirl crush. But then my lips were on his and my hands were tangled into his wonderful hair and my mind blanked. He kissed back enthusiastically, one hand on my hip, the other in my hair.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds before my common sense returned. The voice at the back of my head came back in full force. This was _Sirius_, he was like a big _brother_ to me, or so I told myself. I pulled back forcefully, ignoring the fact that my head connected with the ground because of it. I pushed him off and stood up. For a second our eyes connected. Confusion and shock were written all over his face. I turned and ran.

"Emma!" I heard him calling out behind me, but I ignored him, running towards the wards. "Emma, come back!" Sirius shouted and took off after me. If I could just reach the wards I could apparate to Hogsmeade and escape.

Finally, the faint shimmering of the Fidelius charm became visible, and I barrelled through. I knew Sirius wouldn't dare cross them, in case someone was scrying for him.

I turned on the spot and apparated to the ally behind the Three Broomsticks. I sighed and sagged against the wall. I couldn't believe I actually _kissed Sirius._ How had this _happened_? Well, I knew how it had happened, but I couldn't believe I'd actually _kissed Sirius_!

Not that it wasn't nice, but that wasn't the point! What if things got awkward?

Lynx bared her teeth and pounced on that thought, it wouldn't help to think about this now. I straightened up and walked around the building. I needed a drink.

/*/

An hour later, when dinnertime came around, I made my way to Hogwarts. I wasn't ready to go back home yet, and Sirius couldn't leave the house, so I was safe for another hour yet. Luckily I'd managed to limit myself to one glass of firewhiskey, after which I'd switched to butterbeer.

On my way up to the castle, I thought back to the first time I'd kissed Sirius. It was at the end of last year, in the Shrieking Shack. But that was out of sheer relief, and it hadn't meant anything to either of us. Had it? _'Stop it!'_ I told myself firmly. _'Sirius doesn't feel anything but brotherly love for me and I…'_ I stopped walking and sighed. I guess I could at least admit it in my own head. _'I'm in love with Sirius Black'_ the thought made a small smile come to my lips. The situation was still not exactly ideal, but at least I'd cleared up that little bit. I was in love with Sirius Black, convicted for murder and on the run because he was innocent. _'And currently hiding in my house… which means that if I want to go home, I'll need to face him again…'_ I thought to myself. I started for the castle again. The whole point of this was so that I _didn't _have to think about him anymore!

I shook my head, trying to clear it of all thoughts of Sirius and mentally went over my lesson plan for the next day. I'd have sixth years then. Professor Burbage had told me they were far more intelligent. I was going to be talking to them about different forms of communication, and the way they differ from ours.

I finally arrived at the castle gates, and was about to go into the Great Hall. Dinner hadn't quite started yet, so the Entrance Hall was packed with students cueing to get into the Great Hall. I spotted Harry and his two friends talking to that blonde – Draco Malfoy – and looking none too happy with it. I pushed through the crowd just in time to hear the blonde comment snidely on Mrs. Weasley's appearance.

"Mr. Malfoy! Ten points from Slytherin for inappropriate behaviour!" I said loudly, coming up behind him.

Malfoy opened his mouth to protest, but I held up a hand to forestall it. "Do you want to make it twenty?" I asked, raising a threatening eyebrow. He glared at me. I saw Harry smirking, while still holding back his friend. "Mr. Potter, wipe that smirk off your face, or you'll be losing house points as well, understood?" I asked, turning to him.

I had to fight to keep a smirk off my own face when I saw his incredulous expression. Then he caught sight of the twitch in the corner of my mouth, and schooled his features. "Yes, professor Potter," he said politely, the smirk nowhere to be seen. I could tell he wanted to laugh, though.

"Get your dinner Mr. Potter, Mr Weasley," I said and walked away. I had only gotten one step before I heard a loud BANG.

I whirled around, wand in hand, as a second bang sounded, accompanied by a loud shout. "OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!" professor Moody shouted as he limped down the marble staircase. His wand was out and pointed at a pure white ferret that had definitely not been there before. Malfoy was nowhere in sight.

It was only when Moody asked Harry "Did he get you?" and my nephew answered negatively that I understood what was going on.

Malfoy had probably tried to fire a spell at Harry's unprotected back, and Moody – he couldn't stand underhanded moves like that – had interfered.

"Alastor, did you have to change him into a ferret? It isn't exactly a regular punishment," I said, but the other professor either didn't hear me – doubtful – or chose to ignore me. He jabbed his wand at the cowering ferret and made it bounce up and down, all the while saying "I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back is turned!"

"Alastor!" I shouted, using a silent accio to summon the ferret my way. "Are you crazy? That's a student!" I put the ferret down gently and reversed the transfiguration spell, just as professor McGonagall came down the stairs.

"Professor Potter! Did you just use transfiguration on a student?!" she questioned as she sped down the last of the steps, a pile of books in her arms.

"Just to retransform him, professor," I replied and roughly helped the blonde up. He was pink in the face, and more than a little wobbly on his legs, but otherwise seemed fine.

"Who transfigured him in the first place?" she demanded. She came to a stop beside me and looked around at the faces of the wide circle that had gathered around us.

"Professor Moody did," I replied. I had no sympathy for him, Moody could take care of himself.

The professor in question looked slightly sheepish, but not ashamed in the least. He probably felt that Malfoy had deserved that. I idly wondered what would have happened if I hadn't been there to intervene.

McGonagall – Minerva now, I supposed – dealt with the situation quickly by making Moody go talk to Snape about Mr Malfoy's behaviour. Personally, I didn't think that was such a good idea, considering Moody's history with Death Eaters, former or not, but I didn't comment.

"Well, that was exciting," I commented as the students filed into the Great Hall again.

"Yes, thank you for interfering. But, if you'll forgive my asking, why are you here? I thought your lesson was this morning?" she asked as we walked toward the High Table.

I sighed as my thoughts were once more on the events of that afternoon. "It's nothing, Padfoot was getting a little… crazy," I lied easily.

Minerva nodded knowingly. Albus and I had decided to bring her up to date on Sirius' real situation, including the talent he shared with her. She didn't know about me, though, but then, neither did Albus.

Throughout dinner, I tried to focus on my conversation with professor Burbage, but my thoughts kept drifting back to a certain dog. I was going to have to say something, right?

/*/

When I got home a little over half an hour later, Sirius was waiting for me in the living room. He didn't say anything, and he didn't look angry. He didn't look much of anything, really. He could hide his emotions rather well if he didn't want anyone else to know them.

"You should have been there this afternoon," I started cheerfully, hoping he would allow my avoiding the problem at hand. "Moody turned that Malfoy brat into a white ferret and bounced him up and down in the middle of the Entrance Hall. It was funny."

Sirius didn't seem amused, especially not when I avoided his gaze. To my surprise, his fist connected with the table with a loud whack.

"Damn it, Emma!" he hissed, "I know I'm not an emotional bloke, but we need to talk about this!"

I refused to look at him, choosing instead to study a point on the wall to my left. Thanks to my sharpened senses, I could smell the frustration, coming off him in waves. "It never happened, alright?" I said, crossing my arms across my chest.

"Never happened?!" he shouted incredulously. "How the hell could you say that? It was _far_ from nothing!" By the time he'd finished, he was standing up, pointing an accusatory finger at me. "If I'm going to keep living here, we have to discuss this!" he said, his anger seemingly dissipating.

Mine on the other hand, was not.

"What do you think you'd do if you leave?" I scoffed. "You're a wanted fugitive, Sirius! I'm committing a crime just by talking to you!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

"So you're saying you don't want me here? Is that it?" he shouted back.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. This wasn't helping. "I don't want you to leave, Sirius." I looked up at him. "I just don't want to talk about it right now, or tomorrow, either. Think you can live with that?" I asked, pleading with my eyes for him not to pursue the matter.

Sirius dropped back into his chair. He didn't answer, or even look at me, so I took that as a yes. "Thank you," I whispered, knowing his sensitive ears would pick it up.

I turned around and went into my room, where I proceeded to put a silencing and charm on the door and cry my eyes out.

I really hoped I hadn't just lost a friend that night.

**A/N: Review, please!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: No, I'm not dead, and I'm am terribly sorry! I've had writer's block (still do, which is why the chapter might seem a little forced), and I've also been very busy with the musical my school is putting on, and, you know... life  
Anyway, this is kind of a short chapter, but after this I'll be skipping to the more fun parts.  
And don't worry, there'll be more Sirius/Emma soon.**

Chapter 8

The next few days and weeks went by without much incident. My sixth years were a lot more intelligent, even though there were only five of them. They seemed to really enjoy the first chapter I taught them: British humour. I showed them Monty Python's the Holy Grail, and they loved it. The essay they had to write on the differences between Muggle Humour and humour more commonly used by magic folk was… interesting.

Sirius never brought the kiss up again, and I was fine with that. Honestly, I was happy with my life, and I was afraid that kiss would change everything. The atmosphere in the house was much more loaded, and not as easy and carefree as it had been, but it wasn't insufferable. I did spend more time in the library with my parents, though. I'd told them what happened, and my mother had raised an eyebrow, while my dad narrowed his eyes. I'd had to convince him not to talk to Sirius about it, because he was ready to give the 'if-you-break-her-heart-I-will-break-you speech. My mother had seemed far too amused at the entire situation.

I was always happy when Saturdays came around, because those were when we'd scheduled Harry's animagus training. We used the guest suite Dumbledore had offered me in case of emergencies, as it was password protected, and random students or professors couldn't just wander in. He was making a lot of progress in my eyes, but of course for the teenager it wasn't going near fast enough.

I'd given him a Latin-English dictionary and helped him look up information about his form, but the hardest part was still to come. He had to find a spell – more like a paragraph – that related his true self, his personality, as accurately as possible. It had taken me seven months to come up with mine, James had done it in five. Naturally, Harry was determined to break his father's record (as Sirius had taken eight, and Wormtail even longer).

But before he could even start that phase, Harry would have to find an individual spell for each of his limbs. Luckily that was the easy part, so he had already found one for his right arm. After his limbs and the personality spell, I'd have to brew a potion – I would have to find help for that – which tasted awful and then the first transformation.

Every time I worked with Harry, I was reminded of the time James and I spent together on that particular project, with me as the student. It was the best part of my week.

But there were also a few interesting moments in the next few weeks, like when Hermione tried to get me to become a member of her House Elf rights group.

I had stayed late after one of my fourth year lessons, grading their assignments and preparing for the third year's project for the next Monday when I heard a timid voice.

"Professor?"

I looked up to see Hermione Granger standing in the door opening, a box in her arms, and a hesitant expression on her face. "Yes, Miss Granger, can I help you?" I asked as I put my quill down.

"Well… Professor…" She took a deep breath. "Do you know that there are house elves working at Hogwarts, professor?"

I raised my eyebrows at the strange question. "Yes, I've known about them since I first went to Hogwarts," I replies cautiously, wondering what the point of this conversation could be.

Hermione's hesitant expression changed to an indignant one in a fraction of a second. "You've known about them for twenty years?"

"Is there something wrong with that, Miss Granger?" I asked, knowing she had forgotten who she was talking to for a second.

Hermione blushed an almost Weasley red. "I'm sorry, professor, it's just…" she hesitated again, biting her lip.

I sighed and got up from my desk, walking around it so I could face her better. "Hermione, just spit it out, what's bothering you?" I asked kindly; the young girl was flustered enough.

"It's just that house elves are so repressed! I've done a lot of research, and I want to get them some minimum wages, and more representation. If I could just have _your_ support-" she started at top speed.

I held up a hand. "Hermione, slow down. What makes you think house elves _want _to be paid?"

"They're treated like slaves! Beaten and encouraged to punish themselves if they so much as _think_ something their masters don't agree with!" the young girl almost wailed.

I sighed and put an arm around her, abandoning the teacher-student relationship. "Did you know my family owned a house elf?" I asked her.

The upset teenager turned to look at me, her eyes wide. I could tell she was secretly horrified, but the good student in her was battling that emotion.

I smiled. "Her name was Milly, and she was with out family for almost forty years. She cleaned my room when I was young, prepared our food, and took care of James and I when our parents were busy. She did the laundry and all the cleaning, and gardening, and everything else that needed to be done at the house. Does that make me a bad person?" I asked.

Hermione didn't answer, instead choosing to stare at her shoes. I squeezed her shoulders a little before sitting back. "You're right that some traditionally Dark, pureblood families don't treat their elves very well, Dobby is the perfect example of that, but they are a small minority. The Elves at Hogwarts especially don't need your help, they only have to prepare meals and clean up the common rooms every night, the rest of the messes are dealt with by Filch or students in detention… If you really want to help, you might want to try to get house elves away from Dark families, like the Notts, or Goyles, I doubt their elves are treated any better than Dobby was. Or try to get a law passed that takes away your elves if you've been sent to Azkaban." I waited for a reaction, and was rewarded by a small frown. I thought I'd gotten through to her, so I just said, "Think about it. Now go get your dinner, before Mr Weasley eats it all."

/*/

As the weeks went by, I fell into an easy routine. I taught my classes, and stayed for dinner or lunch, depending on what class I'd taught. Then I went home, prepared for my next class, or graded essays and papers and read a book. Sometimes I did some animagus research to help Harry, or went running as lynx or flying, but usually my evenings were taken up by something else.

After I'd explained to Sirius about my sixth years' first lesson, he insisted I show him. I complied, with the result that the dog animagus was now addicted. I'd bought a muggle television set and a number of movies, all of which he'd watched by the end of that first week. I went out and bought more films, but realized the same thing would probably happen again.

I decided to start teaching Sirius about all things muggle, basically repeating my third years' class to Sirius.

Because of this, he learned about a lot of muggle objects that could even be used in Hogwarts, among which, was a typewriter. Typing lessons were added to my evening routines, and soon enough, he was typing short little texts and stories on his new 'toy'.

Of all the hobbies Padfoot could've picked up, I never would have thought writing would be one of them.

The best part of this was that it had diverted his attention sufficiently so that he didn't ask about the kiss anymore, and there weren't that many awkward moments between us as before. Although I grew progressively irritated that he refused to show me any of his stories.

/*/

When the announcement about the other Triwizard schools finally went up, it was all the students talked about. The delegations of the other schools would be arriving at the end of October, on Halloween, so everyone was excited. I didn't know that much about the other schools, aside from their general reputation, so when students started asking me questions, I was forced to do some research.

I was probably the only one not looking forward to Halloween, but that had more to do with what had happened 13 years ago, than with the actual holiday or the arriving schools. Though to my surprise, Harry barely made that connection when I talked to him about it. But then again, he was only a baby when it happened, and he barely knew his parents…

The next week I had the hardest time trying to get my students to pay attention. Rumours flew all over the castle, about who was going to enter as the Hogwarts champion, what the other champions were going to be like, the kind of tasks they'd have to perform… Even Sirius was getting excited.

When that Friday finally came, I gave up on trying to teach my students, and allowed them to talk quietly or work on their homework. I was subbing for professor Babbling, since the other witch had come down with some kind of virus, so I didn't know the students that well. It made discipline very hard. Fortunately, after handing out a detention to a Hufflepuff for making a book zoom across the classroom and hitting a Gryffindor in the head, they settled down.

The actual arrival of the other schools was, in comparison, rather anticlimactic. Well… to me at least. There was the usual feast, and some announcements that the teachers had already received in the staff meeting the previous day. It was all very exciting, but I couldn't really care less. I was looking forward to the Tasks, the rest was of little consequence to me.

The only thing that changed for me was that a few of the foreign students wanted to attend my classes, as they did with most of the other teachers, depending on their interests. So, I had to say a few words in French every day, but mostly, my classes proceeded as they always had. The French had come easier than I had expected. After years of it being drilled in my head, I really should've guessed. Being pureblood, even from as liberal a family as mine, I'd had to learn French at a very early age, as had Sirius. James had been terrible, and mum and dad had given up by the time he turned fifteen.

Before long, though, the school got ready to draw the names from the goblet (after a very funny affair, involving the Weasley twins, and an aging potion).

Something was about to happen to turn my life upside down again, and there was no way to stop it…

**A/N: Soooo, pleasedon'thatemeandreview?**

**No, Siriusly, review. (get it? ^^ okay, that was lame, never mind...)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I figured you would prefer a faster update to a longer chapter, so here it is! Review!  
disclaimer: 'taint mine, except for Emma ^^**  
**Enjoy!**

Chapter 9

"Harry Potter." Dumbledore's voice echoed across the quiet Hall. A fourth champion? Everyone, including me, was speechless. How could this have happened? And why did it happen to Harry (again)? I sat there in shock, like almost everyone else, as he made his way to the side chamber, unable to move.

As soon as he'd disappeared through the door, however, I jumped up and followed the headmaster, not caring who else came. Knowing my nephew, he wasn't going to be happy.

Ludo Bagman, who had followed me into the antechamber, was chattering away about how 'extraordinary' the whole situation was. I was having trouble restraining from hexing him into next week.

I walked into the room, and saw Harry standing there, the other champions staring at him. He looked so lost and forlorn, my heart clenched. I didn't waste a second, running over to him, and giving him a hug. He buried his face in my shoulder. "I didn't do it," he whispered, barely loud enough for my enhanced hearing to pick up.

I tightened my hold on him. "I know."

Just then, I heard Bagman introduce Harry as the fourth champion to the other students in the room. I glared at him over my nephew's head (which was quite the feat, considering he was barely two inches smaller than me).

There were the usual protestations, but Bagman assured the champions that there was no backing out at this stage.

I released Harry and rounded on him. "What do you mean, 'there's no backing out at this stage'?! He is _fourteen_ years old, and if you think for even one second that I'm going to let him compete in a tournament with far more trained students, than you're sorely mistaken, Mr Bagman," I said, my voice cold as ice.

The Ministry official looked decidedly uncomfortable, but was saved from answering as Albus, Madame Maxime, Mr Crouch (I spared a glare for him, he had sent Sirius to Azkaban without a trail, after all), Karkaroff, Minerva, and Snape. I vaguely wondered what the latter was doing there, but then decided I really didn't care.

I barely listened to the conversation they started, my gaze intent on the highly uncomfortable teenager in front of me. He tried to give me an encouraging smile, but failed miserably. My attention was drawn back when I heard Snape say that it had been Harry's fault.

"Excuse me?" I said, hoping I'd misunderstood him. The potion's master merely raised an eyebrow at me. A greasy one at that, I noted.

"You can't possibly believe that- no wait," I said, interrupting myself, "of course you can, you're a grudge-holding, bigoted asshole, of course you can. What are you even doing here? You're not his head of house, or his guardian, and you're not a judge or a headmaster."

"Emma, mind your language, if you please," Albus said, his gaze reproving. For someone who'd lived through two wars, he sure was sensitive about politeness.

"I'm sorry, Albus. He's a grudge-holding, bigoted _professor_," I amended poisonously. From the corner of my eye, I could see Harry's lips edge upwards a fraction. Snape just glowered at me. If looks could kill, I'd be pushing daisies already.

"Emma," Albus said sternly. He wasn't amused. I shrugged in apology. At 29, I was still a teenager at heart, so sue me.

"I already told Mr Bagman that I'm not going to let Harry participate," I said icily, daring anyone to contradict me.

"He may not have a choice," the headmaster replied. I frowned.

"What do you mean? I'm his guardian. Until he's 17, I make all legal decisions for him, he can't enter the tournament."

"We must abide by the rules, and the rules clearly state that those people whose names come out of the Goblet, must compete. It is a magically binding contract," Crouch said. I was really starting to hate this guy.

Karkaroff then insisted on having to redraw the names from the Goblet, and, after Bagman stated that this was impossible, threatened to withdraw from the Tournament.

Before I could form a witty retort to this, Moody stalked in. I hadn't even heard the telltale sound of his wooden leg on the stone floor. "Empty threat, Karkaroff," he growled. "You can't leave your champion now. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh?" The ex-auror limped off towards the fireplace, where Diggory stepped out of his way.

"Convenient? I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody," Karkaroff said.

I followed Harry's gaze to the European headmaster's hands. They were balled up. I'd have to remind myself to commend him on his observation skills. A detail like that could save your life in a fight.

"Don't you?" Moody said quietly. "It's very simple. Someone put Potter's name in that Goblet knowing he'd have to compete if it came out."

Madame Maxime sneered that it must've been someone who wanted Hogwart's chances to go up, Karkaroff concurred.

I had to bite back a laugh. "Seriously?" I asked incredulously. "If someone wanted to help Hogwarts along, they wouldn't have chosen a 14 year old, barely trained boy, they'd have chosen another 7th year, like Thornton, our best DADA student… No offence, Harry," I said. He simply shrugged, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

"I agree, if anyone's got reason to complain, it's Potter," Moody said. "But… funny thing… I don't hear _him_ saying a word–"

Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion, seemed to think it was an honour to serve her school in this manner, and that the money and fame you got from it were reward enough.

I scoffed. "What does he need money for? We're one of Great-Britain's wealthiest families, and he has enough unwanted fame."

"Eet is _ridicule_! Zis is a chance many would die for!" Fleur countered.

"Maybe some's hoping Potter _is_ going to die for it," said Moody, with the merest trace of a growl. An extremely tense silence followed the professor's words. I hadn't even considered that. What if a Death Eater was behind this? I bit my lip, and unconsciously reached for my ward's arm.

"Well, there's nothing new." Had I not been an animagus, I wouldn't have heard the whispered words coming from the teen beside me, as it was, I didn't think anyone else had. The words sent a stab through my heart. No 14 year old should be this used to the idea that there were people out there who wanted to kill him.

I tuned the rest of the conversation out, only storing that the Goblet had been confounded in the back of my head, as I slipped an arm around Harry's shoulders. I wanted nothing more than to shelter him from the world, and to make this all go away, but I knew that wasn't possible. And, more importantly, I knew Harry would never let me.

Making a decision, I interrupted the conversation. "He'll compete," I said, ignoring the incredulous and slightly betrayed look Harry sent me. "But only on one condition."

Crouch raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"Given Harry's age, I move that you make an exception to the rule that teacher's are not allowed to help, in my case. I'm his guardian, and he's entering a potentially lethal competition, designed for adults, I should be able to help him," I said resolutely.

Crouch looked like he was about to argue. For someone who this much of a stickler to the rules, it surprised me a little that he'd sent Sirius to Azkaban without a trail, without so much as blinking. Bagman interceded, and for once, I was grateful. "Seems fair to me, what do you think, Barty?"

Crouch merely pressed his already thin lips even closer together. Bagman sent a questioning look towards the heads of the schools. Albus locked eyes with me for a second, and gave a nod. Karkaroff and Madame Maxime were far more grudging.

And so, Harry Potter was about to endanger his life once again.

**A/N: Review? **

**By the way, everyone with an iphone or ipod touch should definitely install pocket ficiton. It's a free app that allows you to connect to your account and download all the stories. It doesn't take much memory, and you won't need the internet to read fanfiction anymore! I love it and use it daily!**

**Love y'all!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I know, I know, it's been ages, and this is a REALLY bad chapter, but I swear it's going to be better from now on. This part of the book is just the most boring, and I wanted to skip over it.  
Still, enjoy! (and don't kill me for being late with this, otherwise you won't get anymore chappies!)**

**Tahnks for all the wonderful reviews! And EmmaJamesPotter, your penname is awesome ^^**

**Chapter 10**

I dreaded telling Sirius about the Goblet incident, but in the end, he took it rather better than I had. I told him as he sat down for dinner that evening, but waited until he had his food. A hungry Sirius was not a pleasant one.

He immediately agreed with Moody that someone was doing this to kill Harry. I really should have known; Sirius was probably the most resilient person I'd ever met.

"How are you not bothered by this?" I asked, incredulous, as he just continued eating.

"Of course I'm worried, and angry, but right now there's nothing we can do about that. Harry's tough, and thanks to you, we'll be there to help him," he said evenly.

I stared at him for a minute, my eyebrows raised. "Wow, imagine that, Sirius Black has the most mature reaction of the two of us," I said, and sat down on the chair next to him. I pulled his plate towards myself and stole a finger of mashed potatoes.

"Besides, we can always invite Moony over, I'm sure he'd love to help with research," Sirius responded. He regarded me thoughtfully as I continued to eat his food. It was odd; Padfoot was generally very possessive of his food. I remember a rather epic foodfight breaking out over Christmas dinner once because James had 'stolen' one spoonful of Sirius's peas. It was hilarious to watch the duo get scolded by my mother.

"I don't know, he's got that new job… He might not have the time…" I replied musingly. I shook my head. "On a completely different topic, one of us really needs to learn how to cook. We can't keep munching off of Hogwarts forever."

He pulled his plate back towards himself, protectively putting an arm around it as he answered. "Why not? It's not like the House Elves mind."

I rolled my eyes. "Never mind, but unless you want me to start experimenting…"

Sirius's eyes widened comically, as he dramatically laid a hand over his heart and leaned back. "No! Please, not _your_ cooking!" He fell onto his knees. "I'll do anything!"

I grinned, perhaps a touch evilly. "Then I suggest you find yourself a cookbook."

/*/

Harry had a falling out with his friend Ron after his name had come out of the goblet, and frankly, I was disappointed in the redhead. I spent an evening in an empty classroom with Harry, distracting him from what was going on. I managed to convince Dumbledore to let all the champions have the morning off so they could 'get used to the new situation'. Meaning I wanted Harry to have some time alone, so he could come to terms. He may have been fourteen, but that night he was a lost boy to me, and he was my boy now.

Over the next few weeks, I helped Harry prepare as much as I could, occasionally even taking Sirius to school – in dog form, of course. Most of the students loved him, but Harry especially liked 'walking' him on the school grounds. Of course, this meant that Sirius had to get a collar, and that was a most hilarious story. Minerva thought it was particularly funny.

The only downside was Harry's social problems at school. It seemed that more than half the school hated him for standing in Cedric Diggory's way, and the Gryffindors were just happy to have their own champion. Basically, no one, except for Hermione, believed that he hadn't put his name in the Goblet.

The stress and alienation really took its toll on him, and he was more moody and more prone to snapping now, than ever. The hardest thing about that was Ron's attitude. Hermione understood why. I didn't really care, but then, I was more than a little prejudiced on the subject.

Every time I saw one of those bloody 'support Cedric' badges, I took it away and removed House Points. Until Hermione showed me how to alter them, that is. She made hers say 'Support them both! It's a Hogwarts victory either way!' From that moment on, I changed every badge I laid eyes on. I had to change Malfoy's seven times, before his Housemates got angry enough with him for losing points that he just didn't wear them anymore.

"Mister Malfoy, I believe this is the sixth–" I started, but was interrupted.

"seventh," someone behind me muttered.

"Seventh. Thank you mister Crawley. The seventh time that I've had to alter your badge. Fifteen points from Slytherin," I said, holding out my hand for the badge.

"But professor, that's not fair!" Crawley shouted.

"Don't get mad at me, Mr Crowley, It's _your_ housemate that's lost you… how many points already?"

"Seventy," the youth answered through gritted teeth. "Eighty-five if you count this time." He was full on glaring at the blonde Slytherin prince now, along with almost every other Slytherin in the Entrance Hall.

"I don't have to listen to some stupid bloodtraitor," Malfoy muttered under his breath. If it hadn't been for my animagus hearing, I probably wouldn't have heard it.

"Mr Malfoy, another ten points off Slytherin for profanity. If I ever hear you call anyone a bloodtraitor or a mudblood again, you'll have detention for the rest of the year, _do you understand_?" I asked angrily. This kid had no respectful bone in his body. Angry muttering followed my statement, but no one actually said anything. They filed into the Great Hall with scowls on their faces.

Naturally, Snape wasn't too happy about that, so he tracked me down in the teacher's lounge that evening.

"Before you say anything, Mr Malfoy deserved it, and I have at least half a dozen of _your_ students to confirm it," I said, barely looking up from the papers I was grading. Understanding electricity was a point I'd have to work on with my fourth years.

"Playing favourites, are we?" Snape hissed back.

I put my paperwork aside. "Really? You're going to accuse _me_ of having favourites? I'll have you know that I take points only when it's deserved," I replied angrily, getting up. Where did that slimy git get off telling _me_ how to do my job? He was probably the world's worst teacher, along with Trelawny.

Snape's normally pale face turned red. "Don't think I haven't noticed the preferential treatment you give that whelp of a nephew of yours!" he shouted.

"_Me?!_ Maybe you should look a little closer to home, and keep _your_ godson in check! He's called me a bloodtraitor twice now! You should be happy I haven't given him detention for a month!"

"What is going on here?!"

I had been so focussed on shouting at Snape that I hadn't even heard the door open. Minerva stood there, a load of paperwork of her own in her arms.

I stepped back. "Nothing, Minerva, we were just discussing some students."

"It must've been quite the discussion," she commented dryly. Snape just scowled and stomped out of the room. The transfiguration professor stepped out of the way and arched an eyebrow at me. I shrugged and sat down, turning back to my paperwork.

"Exactly which students were you discussing?" she asked, as she took the chair next to me.

"Who else? Harry and Malfoy, of course. Snape was complaining that I have a grudge against the Slytherins because I took points from Malfoy for calling me a bloodtraitor," I said, keeping my eyes on the essay in front of me.

Minerva scoffed. "That boy is just like his father. I wouldn't be surprised if he came to no good. As for Harry…" she trailed off.

"I've been taking points for wearing those badges, and changing them whenever I can. I've caught Malfoy seven times already, so I just keep taking points. It's not my fault the boy's too dense to take a hint," I said testily.

Minerva didn't say anything, which surprised me. But then again, the other professor liked Harry a lot, sort of like an aunt would, though she'd never admit it. And like every other professor at Hogwarts, she merely tolerated Snape, though she, at least, respected his skills in the potions department. I didn't… well, not really.

/*/

Eventually, we found out what the first Task was: dragons. I was furious, but there wasn't much we could do about it. I also had no clue how to fight a dragon single-handedly, which added to my frustration.

"We'll find a way," Sirius tried to reassure me. It was a Friday night, so I had no real excuse to go over to Hogwarts to keep an eye on things, but at least most of the teachers now knew how to change the badges – and did.

"It's just frustrating, that's all. I want to help him, especially because virtually the entire school is being a bloody prat!" I complained, throwing my hands up. We were sitting in the living room, by the fire.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. Damn me for teaching him that habit; I hadn't realized how utterly _annoying_ that was. "What?" I snapped, a little harsher than I'd intended.

He took it in a stride, though, and just shrugged. "Just that you're acting like Lily would've. But then again, you're basically his mom anyway…"

I sighed and massaged his temples. "I never thought I'd ever feel this way… I want to be Harry's aunt, and be the fun one who spoils him, but… Lily would've been much better at this. James too, really. He was a prat, and a real pain sometimes, but after Harry was born… it was like he was reborn too. He could still be silly and goof off, but he'd be there, and he knew what to do… I barely know how to act around Harry as it is; part of me still sees him as that little baby, you know?" I vented. I hadn't really talked to anyone about this. My best friend lived across the ocean after all. _'I should give her a call…' _I though absently.

Sirius moved over to sit on the arm of my seat. "Oi, you're doing the best you can, and what you're giving is exactly what Harry needs right now," he soothed, putting an arm around me. I leaned in to his touch, not caring that I shouldn't be doing it.

"Really, and what's that?" I asked tiredly, closing my eyes.

"Just… you know… someone like you.

I looked at him curiously, but didn't comment. Sirius was just plain weird sometimes; going from childish to saying meaningful things. I'd found that ignoring him on such occasions was often the best thing I could do.

"I'm going to bed. Good night," I said, reluctantly untangling myself from him.

"Good night."

/*/

My heart was beating like crazy as Harry tried to outfly the dragon. I think I about choked Padfoot, with how hard I was holding on to him. And then, just as suddenly, it was over. Harry was holding the golden egg, and was smiling from ear to ear. I was already at the entrance to the arena before it was over, and stood there waiting for him. Sirius pulled at the leash, and I let him go. He tackled Harry to the ground and licked his face. Rolling my eyes at their antics, I briefly wondered whether the dog animagus would ever grow up.

I gave Harry a hug once he was free of Sirius, and squeezed him extra tight. "Just so you know, you are _never_ doing anything like that again, do you understand?" I joked.

Harry grinned at me crookedly. "I don't think I'll be fighting any dragons in the near future, Emma."

After that, everything went by in a blur. Harry and Ron finally made up, and, though I was happy for them, I still intended to talk to the redhead about it. Most of the rest of the school also changed their minds about Harry. Except for Slytherin, the other Houses were ready to support both champions in the next Task.

Speaking of the next Task, the jury had decided that throwing a Yule Ball would be a good idea, but only the fourth years and above could go. Yeah, that wasn't going to cause any problems, at all. Note the sarcasm there.

During one of Harry's animagus classes, I asked him about it.

He paused in his wand movements, blushing faintly. "Erm..." He rubbed the back of his neck, just like James used to do when he was too embarrassed to answer a question.

I rolled my eyes. "I assume you haven't asked anyone yet, or it'd be all over school. Are you planning to?"

He looked at me with a blank look. "Planning to what?"

Seriously, thick-headed! "Ask someone to the dance?" I asked kindly. I figured he'd be too embarrassed to say anything if I teased him.

"Erm… Well…"

I held back a very immature squeal. "What's her name?"

Harry smiled shyly, and blushed an even deeper red. "Cho, Cho Chang. She's the Seeker on the Ravenclaw team." He was staring at his shoes.

I thought for a second. "She's in professor Babbling's class, she's a sixth year, isn't she?"

Harry nodded, still not looking up.

Call me old-fashioned, but I still though the guy should be older than the girl. But on the other hand, it _was _the first time Harry had told me about a crush… "She's pretty. And smart, too. You could do worse," I said with a smile, and held my reservations to myself. "Now, try that movement for your left arm again, I think you're being a little too sharp…"

**A/N: Next chapter will be the Yule Ball, and both Sirius and Emma will have to come to terms with some stuff (vague, I know ^^)**

**Review!**


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